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Naruto and Sasuke daily life

Dialogue Tag Options Other Than "Said"

Writing "said" repeatedly in creative writing projects isn't necessarily bad. "Said" can be an excellent tool to support the flow of your prose. It can function like picture frames on a wall. It adds to your manuscript, but your readers may only read the whole dialogue tag occasionally.

Still, there can definitely be times when "said" gets used too many times in a row. Descriptive dialogue tags can add tension, variety, and depth to crucial moments in your manuscript.

Need a creative boost? Here's an extensive list of dialogue tag options besides "said."

Dialogue Tag Alternatives to "Said"

Acknowledged

Added

Agonized

Agreed

Announced

Apologized

Approved

Articulated

Asserted

Babbled

Backtracked

Bawled

Beamed

Began

Blubbered

Blurted

Bubbled

Called

Chattered

Cheered

Chimed in

Chortled

Chuckled

Commented

Communicated

Conferred

Congratulated

Complimented

Considered

Contended

Cried

Crooned

Declared

Denoted

Drawled

Elaborated

Emitted

Ended

Enunciated

Exclaimed

Expounded

Expressed

Giggled

Greeted

Grinned

Groaned

Gushed

Interjected

Jabbered

Joked

Laughed

Mentioned

Moaned

Mumbled

Noted

Observed

Orated

Persisted

Praised

Predicted

Pronounced

Quipped

Recited

Reckoned

Rejoiced

Related

Remarked

Repeated

Replied

Responded

Sang

Screeched

Shared

Slurred

Stated

Smiled

Snarled

Spat

Suggested

Swore

Thanked

Tittered

Told

Trilled

Urged

Uttered

Yammered

Yelled

Vocalized

Voiced

Other Helpful Resources

Need more inspiration? Here are a few other sources you can check out:

350 Other Words Than Said

Different Words to Use Instead of Said

500 Dialogue Tags Examples

Should You Always Use Dialogue Tags?

You don't have to! Conversations often happen in all genres of creative writing without constant dialogue tags. Once you establish who's saying what, you can format a conversation like this:

"You don't know what you're talking about," Joe said.

"Of course I do," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes. "I only got a Ph. D. in Chemistry."

"From one of the worst universities in the country."

"It's still accredited."

"Your thesis advisor was just arrested for academic fraud!"

"And yet I still passed all my finals."

You can keep up with who's saying what and the tone behind their voices without a tag for each line of dialogue. I wouldn't recommend doing that with every conversation (especially extensive ones) but you can take a break from tags if people are talking rapidly back and forth or if you just want to take a break.

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You'll know how to handle dialogue tags and descriptors as you practice. Reading your manuscript out loud can also point out when they're clunky or unnecessary. There's a necessary balance to making tags that you'll find more easily with each draft!

opens box that reads "i wanna draw again". inside lies a note. the note says, "mental illness and difficult circumstances have taken years of interest, accessibility, and skill away from me. i want to forgive myself for that. i want to heal my relationship to my hobbies. i want to feel connected to something that once made me feel good, but the cyclic discouragement is difficult to overcome." i turn over the note. on the back it reads "wannta drawe sexy bodies awooga"

someone recommend me some good fantasy books that aren’t centred on a war, please, my crops are dying

unsung benefit i think a lot of ppl are sleeping on with using the public library is that i think its a great replacement for the dopamine hit some ppl get from online shopping. it kind of fills that niche of reserving something that you then get to anticipate the arrival of and enjoy when it arrives, but without like, the waste and the money.

oh yeah have i ever told yall of the academic war i have been an unwilling soilder in for the past two years

Listen, what if Naruto and Menma met? What if Naruto wants out of the shadows and anonymous lifestyle? What if Menma craves anonymity without his Father/Brother shadows hanging over him? And if we already have prince and a pauper situation , both of them raised by Kakashi/Obito why not parent trap them?

I know what I’m drawing next I’m writing it here so I don’t forget later. Minato chooses the village instead of Naruto so obito has to kill the baby Naruto but he looks at Naruto’s big turnip head and googoo gaga eyes and is like “fuck idk” and he runs off with Naruto and is standing there with a rock like “I don’t want to be a dad I have to kill this baby and mail the body parts to Minato.” But Naruto is like googoogaga and obito is like ok fine you convinced me

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

(Also, check my gumroad store if you want to!)

Not that anybody asked, but I think it's important to understand how shame and guilt actually work before you try to use it for good.

It's a necessary emotion. There are reasons we have it. It makes everything so. much. worse. when you use it wrong.

Shame and guilt are DE-motivators. They are meant to stop behavior, not promote it. You cannot, ever, in any meaningful way, guilt someone into doing good. You can only shame them into not doing bad.

Let's say you're a parent and your kid is having issues.

Swearing in class? Shame could work. You want them to stop it. Keep it in proportion*, and it might help. *(KEEP IT IN PROPORTION!!!)

Not doing their homework? NO! STOP! NO NOT DO THAT! EVER! EVER! EVER! You want them to start to do their homework. Shaming them will have to opposite effect! You have demotivated them! They will double down on NOT doing it. Not because they are being oppositional, but because that's what shame does!

You can't guilt people into building better habits, being more successful, or getting more involved. That requires encouragement. You need to motivate for that stuff!

If you want it in a simple phrase:

You can shame someone out of being a bad person, but you can't shame them into being a good person.